Trump Wants Manhattan Trial Moved to Federal Court

Former President Donald Trump says his Manhattan criminal trial should be moved to a federal court because the alleged crimes “took place while the president was in office,” according to documents filed Friday by his legal team.

“According to DANY, the crux of its case was a purportedly ‘illegal scheme that was largely perpetrated before defendant became [P]resident.’ Such an alleged scheme, albeit nonexistent, could only violate federal, not state, campaign finance laws, as made clear by both the federal jurisprudence and the New York State election board,'” the defense filing said.

Trump in April was charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over repayments to then-lawyer Michael Cohen for hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the final days of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump classified the payout as a legal expense.

Trump’s legal team has requested a change to federal court before, though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has urged a federal judge to reject that bid.

“The objective of the alleged conduct had nothing to do with defendant’s duties and responsibilities as President,” the DA’s office wrote in late May. “Instead, the falsified business records at issue here were generated as part of a scheme to reimburse defendant’s personal lawyer for an entirely unofficial expenditure that was made before defendant became president.”